Steve Blank Quotes

I've had two IPOs: with Etsy in 2015 and Cloudera in 2016. There have also been a ton of trade sales in my portfolio.

I come from the operations side of the business, and I buy companies to operate them, not to flip them.

I've probably done more venture capital deals and expansion financings than I have done private equity deals. But both are the same. Private equity companies have also built jobs.

When you are buying companies, everyone in the company feels very good. Their chests are puffed out. At Blackstone, I used to tell people that there is nothing more fun than buying a company with somebody else's money. The business is growing, which creates more opportunity for your employees.

Private equity has been the purview of super wealthy individuals and institutions.

Big banks have long had private equity divisions that put up capital for deals too complex or risky for individual shareholders to finance.

When investors, particularly investment bankers, talk about splitting up companies, there's a lot of discussion about multiple expansion, and the reality is multiple expansion is an outcome, not a strategy.

I learned about M&A and how to value assets and work with investment bankers.

The deal machinations many companies put themselves through, while certainly a bonanza for investment bankers, can confound the typical investor.

Mergers and acquisitions, we are always looking for that.

Why do investors seem to care about 'billion dollar exits?' Historically, top venture funds have driven returns from their ownership in just a few companies in a given fund of many companies.

I delivered lectures, and I was also a consultant for international companies in finance, both private equity and big venture capital funds.

It used to be that you would go in to see a CEO, and you would ask them, 'Is your company for sale?' and if they said 'No, we have no interest in selling,' that was sort of the end of the conversation.

Venture capital is always wanting to go up market.

If private-equity firms are as good at remaking companies as they claim, they don't need tax loopholes to make money.

Private equity does pay very well, and my counterparts, guys that I grew up with who are still working at a number of firms, all make a lot of money.

I've been a customer of the top venture capital firms, so I know exactly what they do and don't do.

I think one of the key differentiators I bring to the table as a venture capitalist is a solid understanding of the public markets and how they operate.

As I became a venture capitalist, it's almost like I went to the dark side for a while.

Private equity helps produce strong companies, promotes innovation and spurs job growth.

How do you make money? Spinoffs, split-ups, liquidations, mergers and acquisitions.

Much of what is called investment is actually nothing more than mergers and acquisitions, and of course mergers and acquisitions are generally accompanied by downsizing.

I have either run private equity funded companies or been a partner in a private equity fund since 1982. I've had a front row view of the vital role private equity continues to play in building and keeping American businesses competitive in the global economy.

This is a bit like big-game hunting. You look for companies of a certain size that deserve to be public.

Any successful company in the valley gets acquisition offers and has to decide whether or not to take them.